Chef Brent Hammer says the mostly seafood-based menu at the Establishment was built so he could change it on a whim. "We're going to make what we want to make," he says.

It’s hopping now: On Wednesday afternoon, the general manager and a few others were putting finishing touches on the oyster bar before dinner service Wednesday night. The menu includes about 10 types of oysters, plus house-made duck ham, goat chorizo and lardo. The restaurant’s small plates are “seafood-heavy but not seafood-exclusive,” says chef Brent Hammer.

Hammer comes to the Establishment after working as chef de cuisine at Whiskey Cake in Plano and at Hibiscus in Dallas.

The cocktail menu will be like its sibling restaurant Cedars Social, says Hammer. The Establishment will probably share customers with its closer-in-proximity sibling (next door), Smyth. Hammer expects to see diners hop from one to another in one evening — if they can snag a seat at the Establishment or a reservation at Smyth.

[UPDATE: Owner Brian Williams hasn't returned multiple calls or emails, but he told Leslie Brenner there's an abbreviated menu at the Establishment for now. He expects to offer a full menu April 1.]

Is summer really almost over? Kids are getting ready for school, chefs are thinking about fall menus….But what a delicious summer it has been. Here are 7 dishes I’ve loved in the last few months:

1. Chargrilled octopus at Driftwood started off the season on the right tentacle. It’s rare to find octopus done so right — tender and perfect, with just the right light char. Those tentacles traced their way around marble potates, a few leaves of watercress, manzanilla olives and pickled onions; a deep-flavored smoked tomato vinaigrette pulled it all together. That was a dish in beautiful balance.

2. Thai spicy basil with catfish at Jasmine Thai Cuisine. In early July I found myself in Plano, grooving on a plate of catfish in a super-spicy, garlicky basil sauce with baby corn, straw mushrooms, julienned bell pepper and young green Thai peppercorns. It’s not exactly on the menu — just ask for the the dish called Thai spicy basil. It’s offered with chicken or beef, but ask if they’ll make it with catfish instead. Our server suggested it, letting slip that it’s his favorite thing at Jasmine. Good taste, that fine fellow….

3. Goat biryani atMughlai Fine Indian Cuisine. Have you been to Mughlai, near the Galleria? Mark Vamos reviewed it deliciously last fall. In mid-July I followed Mark’s lead and ordered the goat biryani. The beautifully spiced, saffron-perfumed dish — biryani is a rice casserole of sorts — was chock full of meaty chunks of really good goat. It was as luscious a biryani as I’ve had in Dallas. The owner stopped by the table and told us excitedly they’re using a new source for the goat — and that her restaurant is now open on Mondays.

Cedars Social – Michael Martensen and Brian William’s cool cocktail den/restaurant in the Cedars neighborhood — has a new executive chef, Toby De La Rosa. De La Rosa is the fourth chef in charge of Cedars’ kitchen since it opened just 18 months ago. I was loving what his predecessor, Kyle McClellan, was doing, but poof! He’s gone. Left for New York, according to Williams. McClellan is still involved somewhat in the restaurant, says Williams, but De La Rosa, who had been McClellan’s executive sous chef, is now top toque.

De La Rosa and McClellan had worked together before, De La Rosa told me in a phone interview; he hired McClellan in 2003 at the Federalist in Boston, where McClellan was sous chef and De La Rosa was executive sous. The following year De La Rosa moved back to his home town, San Antonio, where he snagged a job as executive sous chef at the Argyle, a private club. Later he worked as a private chef, started a catering business, and then went to the Grand Hyatt San Antonio as food and beverage manager. Things came full circle when McClelland convinced him to move to Dallas last year to work at Cedars Social — just in time, apparently. There was plenty to like about working at the Hyatt, the chef says, but, “I wasn’t cooking.” He knew he had to accept.

Months before that, shortly after Cedars Social opened, co-owner and barman Martensen told me, “We’re not a restaurant; we’re a bar.” But McClellan’s cooking was compelling enough that I included Cedars Social in my Best in DFW: New Restaurants 2011 story.

De La Rosa's crawfish-filled tortelloni with crawfish foam and cress

De La Rosa has now headed the kitchen for a couple of months. His cooking, at once relaxed and sophisticated, feels like a natural extension of what McClelland was doing, but it definitely bears the self-trained chef’s own stamp. Recently an appealing “weekend menu” of specials featured crawfish tortelloni with summer corn, crawfish foam and jalapeño oil; lightly smoked lamb baby back ribs with an Asian glaze and Hawaiian style potato salad; and Texas redfish in a crawfish butter with cherry tomatoes and leeks.

Hey, Dallas bar scene: Hang on to your self-esteem. I just read a tweet moments ago by the Cedars Social’sMichael Martensen:

“Drinking in Dallas is just boring. No soul or passion behind it. Nothing hip. Shame just drink wine is my advice.”

Wow. It’s one thing for a civilian to complain about this while forking over $12 for yet another vodka-something with fresh, infused local whatever. But Martensen is one of the city’s top drink-masters (I’m trying not to use mixologist) and founder of the North Texas Chapter of the United States Bartenders’ Guild. (You may recall I crashed their first party.)

Is Martensen becoming cynical or do you totally agree with him? Is there a place you love to drink that gets it right?

Kyle McClelland can say goodbye New York apples, hello Texas sweet potatoes. The former New York chef who worked at Caviar Russe has left the Big Apple to oversee the kitchen at The Cedars Social. ‘Turns out he worked with bartender-co-owner Michael Martensen before.

“I loved working with Michael Martensen on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts,” McClelland says in the press release. Presumably when he sous-cheffed at Toppers in chef David Daniel‘s kitchen at The Waiwinet luxury resort.

McClelland will be reworking The Cedars Social menu, developed by consulting chef John Tesar, with “a more seasonal approach,” the release says. He’s a grad of the French Culinary Academy in New York City.

The Cedars Social, the Southside “cocktail den and kitchen” where chef John Tesar created the menu, puts its own spin on Super Bowl dining with a series of one-night, star-turn dinners Jan. 31-Feb. 4. The restaurant is also teaming up with Russian Standard Vodka, so vodka cocktails are on the menus. Here’s the lineup:

Jan. 31: Tim Byres, executive chef at Smoke
Feb. 1: Celebrity chef Bradley Ogden, in from his namesake restaurant at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas
Feb. 2: Matt McCallister, most recently of Stephan Pyles, soon off to chef at famous U.S. kitchens
Feb. 3: John Tesar, who’s developing his own spot, Commissary, in the old Dali Wine Bistro space
Feb. 4: Former Top Chef “cheftestant” Tiffany Derry, who’s got her own “social” restaurant, Private Social, opening later this year

Christopher Wynn has been on top of the Cedars Social story from the start, but yesterday Nancy Nichols reported at Side Dish that John Tesar will be a consulting chef there, and that he created the menu. She also reported that Tesar plans to open a restaurant in One Arts Plaza. In an email to me this morning, the chef clarified that he plans to open in mid-March, or “latest April 1.” I do not yet know whether this is the project he’s been discussing with DRG Concepts; I’ll let you know when I hear back from the chef.

Meanwhile, he was also kind enough to send me the Cedars Social menu — check it out after the jump. It looks pretty interesting; I was most intrigued by spicy wings that come with what seem to be coxcombs (I’ve never dipped coxcombs in blue cheese dressing before!) and a cheese platter that comes with “rosewater glee.” I’ll let you know what that is when I hear back from the chef. Charred octopus chorizo sounds like a must-order, and I’m curious about “crispy pork belly hot rock,” though I can’t help but feel that when you go to a restaurant, someone else should cook. Other promising-sounding dishes include lobster pot pie and a sous-vide hanger steak with black pepper gastrique, potato beignets and bone marrow. Oh, and Alaskan king crab. The planned opening is next month, according to Side Dish.

P.S. Please forgive the broken links; we hope to have them fixed soon.

UPDATE: The One Arts project has nothing to do with DRG Concepts; it’s with the Billingsley Company (owners of One Arts Plaza, duh). And “rosewater glee” is a typo; make that “rosewater gelée.”

Back in January, I posted this tidbit about a new lounge coming to Doug Brown’s former Sala Tex-Mex space on S. Lamar. Then, in the June/July issue of FD Luxe, co-owners Brian Williams and Craig Reeves revealed the name as Cedars Social. (And since then, I’ve heard one reference to Cedars Social Room. So, stay tuned.)

Recently, there have been rumors that the lounge was running into problems, but I checked with Reeves and he says they expect to be open by early August. Their crew ran into the usual construction delays, so things got pushed back a bit.

One more factoid: Designer Breck Woolsy, the creative mind behind Park and Bar Celine’s chic look, is doing the interior for Cedars Social. So, get ready for one stylish sip stop.

Photos by Courtney Perry: Craig Reeves (top) and Brian Williams (bottom) at the recent North Texas U.S. Bartenders Guild mixer at Bolsa.